Whether they create an illusion, a sense of mystery, movement or anchor a subject firmly to the ground, shadows can be a useful device for an illustrator – just as they are for a painter or photographer.

I once bought the perfect artist’s sketch book – with a black leather-look cover and wonderful thick, acid-free pages. But when I unwrapped it and set it carefully on my art desk it would not work. Every time I opened the book blank pages stared at me – expressionless and fixedly white – until I closed its cover and placed it neatly on my shelf. There it observed life for a year or two, while I sketched happily on any other paper. Only when its spell had faded somewhat, did I open it again. Even then, I had to coax it into action by beginning journal style. On the first blank page, I washi-taped a smudged 2b thumbnail sketch (something I’d prepared earlier) on a ripped-edge scrap of lined foolscap. On the second blank page I taped a post-it note drawing of a smiling face. By the third page my drawings had escaped the additional scraps and sticky-notes – spreading outwards over the pages of that sketch book. Perhaps the hurdle was my conditioned love of …

Today, photos of two pencil drawings. Each with a different purpose – each a step towards print ready, finished art for a children’s literature poem – at different stages of my illustration process. The first photograph depicts a thumbnail sketch – combining layout and my initial spark of a visual idea. Here I’m focussing on the position of elements – the illustrative content and the text for a single page layout – both are intertwined. For the illustrations on the page, I’m focussing on characters and what they are doing – suggesting facial expressions – and any other important visual items. Often, I’ll highlight what I consider important elements with clarifying arrows and notes, because my ideas sketches are quick – mostly a reminder to myself – simply getting the idea down on paper. The second photograph also depicts the child from the thumbnail sketch in the first photo. Design and position on the paper are not important – here I’m focussing on rendering the child and reliant on reference pictures I have in my own photographic library. I shoot a lot of photos – subjects, people, animals, landscapes, …

Above you’ll find a preview – an early version of a new card illustration inspired by the pair of hungry ‘white clouds’ in the nest outside my window. Who could resist drawing these chicks? See photo below. Related Blog post: The Waiting Branch, One or Two?

A pair of Spring Tawnies last appeared in my Post The Waiting Branch when I discovered them in front yard trees. Tawny Frogmouths are often overlooked or unseen because of their branch-like camouflage and ability to stay still. So it is a privilege and a delight to find this pair – to observe their quietly steadfast nature, their watchful protection. And wonder, how many eggs are in that nest – one or two? Insulated from the growing heat, the first Spring storm by an owl-like bird “more closely related to nightjars”. The larger, slightly russet male roosts daily on their nest – a handful of sticks resting on the flat fork of a branch in a paperbark tree, only four to five metres off the ground. The female – a silent sentinel – perches on one of a few favourite branches in a neighbouring tree . I have watched the nest since its discovery and in the fourth week have been rewarded with the sight of a chick – like a cloud of fluff with a beak and an eye. Photographed below, mimicking Dad – tucked low under the Tawny’s wing, …

Annmarie Scott is an illustrator, writer and maker based in Brisbane Australia. A graduate of the Queensland College of Art with a BA in Illustration, Annmarie’s artwork has been published on magazine and book covers, and between the pages of children’s picture books.